As with anything on the Internet, social bookmarking is a delicate process and it is important to know what the best social bookmarking practices are. Today I want to focus on a few, which are often mistakes made by newbies, even leading to getting banned from certain sites.
My first and foremost advice is this: don’t spam social bookmarking sites. Send them your best posts only occasionally. Otherwise, you will be seen as a spammer and people will not read your posts. Let’s face it: few of us consistently write good posts. Some are weaker than others. It is up to you to be able to discern which is which.
Even though traffic from social bookmarking sites generally works like a tall mountain (traffic spikes that disappear quickly), the idea is that you keep a percentage of those visitors interested in your future posts. That is why it is interesting not only to focus on the short view, which are links to social bookmarking sites. You should also make it easy for your visitors to sign up for your RSS feed. You’d be surprised how many regular Google Reader or Feedreader users don’t even remember to sign up for a good website’s RSS feed unless you put a notable link or icon.
In other words, the best social bookmarking users know that these types of websites have limited use. Basically, you get spikes in traffic and advertising that you then want to convert into loyal followers for the work you do on your site. But you’ll only get a bad rap by spamming bookmarking sites, making people mad and making them think you don’t know what you’re doing and wondering: if this guy uses social bookmarking so badly, will it be good at his business? The question may not be entirely fair, but it shows that you haven’t done your research before launching into the world of social media.
Used properly, these types of sites can expose your best work to an appreciative audience. But what can you do on other sites to start gathering an audience?
I always recommend participating in a limited number of social bookmarking sites as a member. That way, other members will get to know you better and will be more willing to do business with you. This is a labor of love and patience, so don’t push your product all the time. If you are a respected member of an online community, users will come to you. It may seem slow, but few systems are better at exposing your work and talents than this one.
In short, don’t spam, submit your best work, do a good job on-site turning occasional visitors into loyal fans, and participate in online communities. If you follow these simple rules, you will be much closer to having the best social bookmarking strategy.
